The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of verbena, botanically known as Verbena hybrida×tenuisecta, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Rap Lilla’. The new cultivar originated in 2004 in Gilroy, Calif. from an hybridization between the female verbena parent ‘Rap Viotwo’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,384), with a deep violet-blue flower color and the male verbena parent, ‘1668-1’, an unpatented proprietary line with a deep purple-blue flower color.
The seeds produced by pollination were sown in June 2004. A single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation in September 2004.
The new cultivar was created in 2004 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif. and Andijk, The Netherlands over a two-year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Andijk, The Netherlands and Hillscheid, Germany. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar have been applied for in Switzerland on Oct. 30, 2006.